Learning new work skills and strengthening those you already have are important for your career success. It will increase your self-confidence and can even be fun. So set aside time to build on the skills you have. First, decide on the skills you want to learn or strengthen. Then plan on how to follow through. There are now thousands of courses freely available online in many different areas including assistive technology. Check out some of these interesting sites below.
E-learning for Assistive Technology
Enable Ireland Assistive Technology Training Service
Enable Ireland Assistive Technology Training Service have made available two modules of their foundations in assistive technology certified course. Inbuilt Accessibility Features and Emerging Technologies. In the Inbuilt Accessibility Features module you will learn how to adapt any computer, laptop or mobile device without having to spend a cent. You will see that these features are improving all the time making modern mainstream devices accessible right out of the box! Emerging Technologies aims to give you a sneak peak at what AT might be coming down the line in a few years and it’s a very exciting time.
http://atcourse.org
The full Foundations in Assistive Technology course can be done through Enable Ireland’s Moodle site at the following url http://enableirelandat.com/
This course which carries 5 ECTs is certified by Dublin Institute of Technology as CPD and supported by Microsoft. It is delivered through a blended learning approach and consists of 4 days face to face training in Microsoft’s Sandyford Campus alongside online content, forums and activities.
Assistive Technology Training Online Project (ATTO)
The Assistive Technology Training Online Project (ATTO) provides information on AT Basic, tutorials, decision making around AT and AT resources.
http://atto.buffalo.edu/
E-learning for general topics
OpenLearn
The Open University offers courses at all levels.
OpenLearn gives you free access to learning materials from The Open University.
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/
Future Learn
Courses from a range of topics; from Science & Technology to Arts & Humanities, from Body & Mind to Business & Management.
https://www.futurelearn.com/
Class Central
Class Central is a free online course aka MOOC aggregator from top universities like Stanford, MIT, Harvard, etc. offered via Coursera, Udacity,edX, NovoED, & others
https://www.class-central.com/
P2PU
P2PU is a learning community that runs on the web. They run courses and organize webinars.
https://p2pu.org/en/
Udacity
Online courses that are built in partnership with technology leaders and are relevant to industry needs. Upon completing a Udacity course, you’ll receive a verified completion certificate recognized by industry leaders.
https://www.udacity.com/
OCTEL
The course comprises ten modules. Each module is designed to consist of five learning hours, including a one-hour live webinar
http://octel.alt.ac.uk/
edX
EdX offers interactive online classes and MOOCs from the world’s best universities. Online courses from MITx, HarvardX, BerkeleyX, UTx and many other universities. Topics include biology, business, chemistry, computer science, economics, finance, electronics, engineering, food and nutrition, history, humanities, law, literature, math, medicine, music, philosophy, physics, science, statistics and more.
https://www.edx.org/
MIT OpenCourseWare
MIT OpenCourseWare makes the materials used in the teaching of almost all of MIT’s subjects available on the Web, free of charge. With more than 2,200 courses available
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
Coursera
Coursera is an education platform that partners with top universities and organizations worldwide, to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free.
https://www.coursera.org/
Sean Loughran
National AT Training Service
Another good resource in the making – posting links to free e-learning content every day –
https://twitter.com/elearnaday
Thanks Juliann, great resource to have, it just shows how much free online courses are available.
Sean.
On a more local basis for anyone living in the Dublin area Fingal County Libraries offer over 500 online non-credit Continuing Education Courses. Each course has a real instructor.
http://fingalcountylibraries.universalclass.com/barcode-login.htm?enter+code
Other county libraries may offer something similar?